Former Norristown police Chief Willie Richet thanks Sheriff Russell Bono for naming him to be his deputy chief during the announcement on the Montgomery County Court House steps Thursday, May 15, 2014. Photo by Dan Clark/Times Herald Staff.

NORRISTOWN — Following approval from the Montgomery County Salary Board on Thursday, Sheriff Russell Bono announced Thursday he was appointing former Norristown police Chief Willie Richet to be his chief deputy at a press conference outside of the courthouse.

“Today I get to introduce to you a person whose always been very special to me, a person with whom I’ve worked with for over 40 years. I literally trust this individual with my life,” Bono said. “I’m just very grateful to be able to announce that today I’m introducing Willie Richet as my Chief Deputy for the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department.”

“I’m very, very humbled to be able to serve as your chief deputy of Montgomery County,” Richet said. “I don’t think there (are) two people who have worked together as long as we have.”

The salary board approved Richet for a salary of $67,205 at their meeting following the commissioners’ meeting on Thursday.

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County Commissioner Bruce L. Castor Jr. said he was excited to have Richet coming back to work in law enforcement after the salary board approved his hiring Thursday.

“I have known Willie almost 30 years in a professional capacity and I am delighted that he would be coming back,” Castor said. “When the governor settled on Sheriff Bono as the new sheriff, I thought the governor made a very wise decision and I believe that Sheriff Bono is making a very wise decision in bringing Willie Richet out of retirement and coming to work with Montgomery County.”

Bono and Richet began working together as patrol officers in the 1970s in the Norristown Police Department. Since then they have “moved up the ranks” together, according to Bono. When Bono was asked to be the Norristown Police Department’s police chief in 1998, he asked Richet to be his chief deputy.

A previous report in The Times Herald stated that Bono and Richet have worked together since Richet joined the Norristown police department in 1973.

As the chief deputy, Richet will oversee the day-to-day operations of the sheriff’s department, which is responsible for courthouse security, warrant service and prisoner transportation.

Richet is the first African-American chief deputy in the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department.

“I’m proud to represent not only the African-American community, but also the entire Montgomery County community. As the sheriff said earlier, we see no color. Russell and I have been together for well over 40 years and we’ve always done everything together,” Richet said. “We don’t see color. We just see each other as getting the job done.”

“Russell picked not only a man of integrity, a man of strength, but a good friend for many years,” state Rep. Mike Vereb (R-150th Dist.) said at the press conference.

The position of chief deputy to the sheriff became available when former Chief Deputy Alfred Ricci retired in January shortly after former Sheriff Eileen Behr announced she would be resigning in December. Before Bono was nominated to be sheriff, Capt. Gregory Womelsdorf held both positions as acting sheriff and acting chief deputy until Richet’s appointment.